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David Ash added his name to the list of quarterbacks who've caught a touchdown pass in the Holiday Bowl and he also threw for one score to lead Texas to a 21-10 victory against California on Wednesday night.
Ash caught a 4-yard pass from wide receiver Jaxon Shipley in the second quarter to join BYU's Steve Young, Texas A&M's Bucky Richardson and Oregon's Harrington as quarterbacks who've caught touchdown passes in the Holiday Bowl.
The Longhorns had the ball first-and-goal when Ash handed off to running back Malcolm Brown who then handed off to Shipley as if the Longhorns were going to run a reverse. Ash slipped into the end zone and caught Shipley's pass to give Texas a 7-3 lead. Shipley has thrown three touchdown passes this season, all while lining up at wide receiver.
Brown joked on Tuesday how much it still bugged him that Harrington caught a TD pass in the Ducks' 35-30 win against Texas in the 2000 Holiday Bowl. The Oregon offensive coordinator then was Jeff Tedford, who has been Cal's coach since 2002. Harrington now works for the Longhorn Network.
Brown credited the play to co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin, who previously had coached and played at Boise State.
``Bryan Harsin grew up in that Boise system and that's the stuff Jeff did with Oregon back in the early 2000s,'' Brown said. ``And it's one of the reasons why I hired Bryan. He believes in running the football, he believes in being physical, but he's got toys in the pocket that he's going to take advantage of things when he can.
``If you're not moving the ball, he's got some imagination in the offense to make a play,'' Brown said.
That play helped salvage a little bit of the Holiday Bowl's reputation for high-scoring, wide-open games.
``We knew they were going to throw something like that out there,'' Cal defensive end Trevor Guyton said. ``It was only a matter of time before they did it. They got us. No excuses.''
Ash had another impressive play in the third quarter when he threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Marquise Goodwin, who made a nice over-the-shoulder catch in full stride. That gave the Longhorns a 14-10 lead.
The Longhorns (8-5) were even more impressive on defense, getting five takeaways and sacking Cal's Zach Maynard six times, both season highs.
The Golden Bears (7-6) are winless in five games against the Longhorns dating to 1959.
Texas put it away on Cody Johnson's 4-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter, which was set up when Maynard was sacked and fumbled, which was recovered by Chris Whaley at the Cal 44. Goodwin ran for 37 yards and Johnson had a 3-yard gain before his touchdown run.
Cal briefly took the lead at 10-7 after Isi Sofele's 6-yard run to cap the opening drive of the second half.
Ash's long TD pass to Goodwin came four plays into the next Texas drive.
``We had our chances and gave the ball away,'' Tedford said.
Cal fumbled six times, losing four. The other turnover was an interception by Quandre Diggs, the younger brother of former Texas star cornerback and current San Diego Chargers starter Quentin Jammer.
``They did a good job of stripping it. They got it out today,'' Tedford said. ``They got their hands on the ball, their hats on the ball and stripped it. There's really no explanation for something we've worked on.''
Maynard was under pressure the whole game.
``We kept getting caught in second-and-long, third-and-long,'' the QB said. ``It's hard to build a decent pass game and run game. ... It's hard to overcome those turnovers. It's hard to build momentum.''
Texas Bowl History (Record: 26-22-2)
Dec. 28, 2011 | Holiday Bowl-Texas 21, California 10 |
Jan. 7, 2010 | BCS Championship-Alabama 37, Texas 21 |
Jan. 5, 2009 | Fiesta Bowl-Texas 24, Ohio State 21 |
Dec. 27, 2007 | Holiday Bowl-Texas 52, Arizona State 34 |
Dec. 30, 2006 | Alamo Bowl-Texas 26, Iowa 24 |
Jan. 4, 2006 | Rose Bowl-Texas 41, Southern Cal 38 |
Jan. 1, 2005 | Rose Bowl-Texas 38, Michigan 37 |
Dec. 30, 2003 | Holiday Bowl-Washington State 28, Texas 20 |
Jan. 1, 2003 | Cotton Bowl-Texas 35, LSU 20 |
Dec. 28, 2001 | Holiday Bowl-Texas 47, Washington 43 |
Dec. 29, 2000 | Holiday Bowl-Oregon 35, Texas 30 |
Jan. 1, 2000 | Cotton Bowl-Arkansas 27, Texas 6 |
Jan. 1, 1999 | Cotton Bowl-Texas 38, Mississippi State 11 |
Jan. 1, 1997 | Fiesta Bowl-Penn State 38, Texas 15 |
Dec. 31, 1995 | Sugar Bowl-Virginia Tech 28, Texas 10 |
Dec. 30, 1994 | Sun Bowl-Texas 35, North Carolina 31 |
Jan. 1, 1991 | Cotton Bowl-Miami 46, Texas 3 |
Dec. 31, 1987 | Bluebonnet Bowl-Texas 32, Pittsburgh 27 |
Dec. 31, 1985 | Bluebonnet Bowl-Air Force 24, Texas 16 |
Dec. 26, 1984 | Freedom Bowl-Iowa 55, Texas 17 |
Jan. 2, 1984 | Cotton Bowl-Georgia 10, Texas 9 |
Dec. 25, 1982 | Sun Bowl-North Carolina 26, Texas 10 |
Jan. 1, 1982 | Cotton Bowl-Texas 14, Alabama 12 |
Dec. 31, 1980 | Bluebonnet Bowl-North Carolina 16, Texas 7 |
Dec. 22, 1979 | Sun Bowl-Washington 14, Texas 7 |
Dec. 23, 1978 | Sun Bowl-Texas 42, Maryland 0 |
Jan. 2, 1978 | Cotton Bowl-Notre Dame 38, Texas 10 |
Dec. 27, 1975 | Bluebonnet Bowl-Texas 38, Colorado 21 |
Dec. 30, 1974 | Gator Bowl-Auburn 27, Texas 3 |
Jan. 1, 1974 | Cotton Bowl-Nebraska 19, Texas 3 |
Jan. 1, 1973 | Cotton Bowl-Texas 17, Alabama 13 |
Jan. 1, 1972 | Cotton Bowl-Penn State 30, Texas 6 |
Jan. 1, 1971 | Cotton Bowl-Notre Dame 24, Texas 11 |
Jan. 1, 1970 | Cotton Bowl-Texas 21, Notre Dame 17 |
Jan. 1, 1969 | Cotton Bowl-Texas 36, Tennessee 13 |
Dec. 17, 1966 | Bluebonnet Bowl-Texas 19, Mississippi 0 |
Jan. 1, 1965 | Orange Bowl-Texas 21, Alabama 17 |
Jan. 1, 1964 | Cotton Bowl-Texas 28, Navy 6 |
Jan. 1, 1963 | Cotton Bowl-LSU 13, Texas 0 |
Jan. 1, 1962 | Cotton Bowl-Texas 12, Mississippi 7 |
Dec. 17, 1960 | Bluebonnet Bowl-Texas 3, Alabama 3, tie |
Jan. 1, 1960 | Cotton Bowl-Syracuse 23, Texas 14 |
Jan. 1, 1958 | Sugar Bowl-Mississippi 39, Texas 7 |
Jan. 1, 1953 | Cotton Bowl-Texas 16, Tennessee 0 |
Jan. 1, 1951 | Cotton Bowl-Tennessee 20 Texas 14 |
Jan. 1, 1949 | Orange Bowl-Texas 41, Georgia 28 |
Jan. 1, 1948 | Sugar Bowl-Texas 27, Alabama 7 |
Jan. 1, 1946 | Cotton Bowl-Texas 40, Missouri 27 |
Jan. 1, 1944 | Cotton Bowl-Texas 7, Randolph Field 7, tie |
Jan. 1, 1943 | Cotton Bowl-Texas 14, Georgia Tech 7 |